WASHINGTON, D.C.—John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress, announced today that Carol M. Browner will join the Center as a Distinguished Senior Fellow.
Browner’s work for American Progress will focus on domestic and international policy development. She will also serve on CAP’s Executive Committee, which oversees strategic planning and management of the institution.
"Carol Browner is an extraordinary public servant and CAP will benefit tremendously from her vision and experience," said John Podesta. He continued, "She understands the intersections of how policy interacts with politics and how government helps shape strong markets for investment and innovation. Having that sense of integration is key to understanding how to improve the lives of the American people, which is central to the mission of CAP."
Most recently Browner served as an assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, overseeing the coordination of environmental, energy, climate, transport, and related policy across the federal government. During her tenure the White House secured the largest investment ever in clean energy and established the national car policy that included both new automobile fuel efficiency standards and first ever greenhouse gas reductions.
In 1993, she was confirmed as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency where she served for eight years. As administrator she adopted the most stringent air pollution standards in our nation’s history, set for the first time, a fine particle clean air standard, spearheaded the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as the Food Quality Protection Act. She was known for working with both environmentalists and industry to set scientific-based public health protections while providing businesses important flexibilities in how to meet those standards. She worked across the agency to ensure a focus on protecting the most vulnerable, particularly children. These efforts earned her various accolades including being named "Mother of the Year" in 1997 by the National Mother’s Day Committee and Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year in 1998.
From 2001-2008 she was a founding partner in the The Albright Group (now Albright Stonebridge Group), a global strategy firm. From 2003-2008 she served as a founding Board Member of CAP.
Browner received a B.A. and a law degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She headed the Department of Environmental Regulation in Florida from 1991-1993 where she launched the largest ecological restoration project ever attempted in the United States to restore the natural flow of water to the Everglades.
Founded in 2003, the Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all.
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